


Batting for Both Teams

by mini_marmoran (mini_cutie)



Series: batting for both teams. [1]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alpha Acxa (Voltron), Alpha Ezor (Voltron), Alpha Hunk (Voltron), Alpha Lotor (Voltron), Alpha Narti (Voltron), Alpha Shiro (Voltron), Alpha Zethrid (Voltron), Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Beta Pidge (Voltron), F/M, Flirty Ezor, Good guy Lotor, Langst, Love Triangle, M/M, Multi, Omega Keith (Voltron), Omega Lance (Voltron), Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Pining Keith (Voltron), Pining Shiro (Voltron), Sexual innuendos, Slow Burn, Space Uncle Coran (Voltron), but complicated
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-14
Updated: 2017-11-21
Packaged: 2019-02-02 10:35:56
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,728
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12724974
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mini_cutie/pseuds/mini_marmoran
Summary: Lance has always been mistaken for an Alpha because he’s so tall and so straightforward. It had never been a problem before, however. Anyone who openly asked or assumed, he’d correct. Being an omega didn't matter anyway. All that mattered to Lance was saving the universe and hiding his unrequited love for two of his teammates. That was how things were until a peace talk between Prince Lotor, the next leader of the Galran Empire, and Team Voltron. Suddenly, Lance is forced to forget about his unrequited crush on Shiro and Keith and, instead, focus on his budding relationship with Acxa and Lotor. Unfortunately, he gets along with them much better than anyone anticipated.





	1. lance — the end is only the beginning.

**Author's Note:**

> side note: this is after zarkon is 'defeated' and right when lotor takes the throne. shiro didn't disappear either so there was no lion switch.

“We’re what now?” Keith stiffened at the news, eyes narrowing as his hands balled into fists. In that one moment, he was the picture of anger and wrath. He even looked like he was ready to charge at Allura. Though, even on his worst days, Lance doubted Keith would even attempt.

It really was a surprise that Shiro didn’t step up to place a hand on Keith’s shoulder like always.

Maybe it was because Shiro, too, was weary. He didn’t show it like Keith, of course. If Keith was a storm, Shiro was the calm. Lance, however, could see the doubt in the Alpha’s eyes and in the way his forehead crinkled.

“Please, Keith. This is a very important meeting.” Allura held her hands up mid-waist as if calming a roaring beast (which, if Lance was honest, Keith was.)

“The Prince promised that he’s coming in peace.” Allura then continued, voice still trying to be soothing “We’ll be meeting in a controlled environment. Nothing could go wrong.”

Keith only looked even more irritated at that “Everything can go wrong.”

Usually, Keith wasn’t this angry.  _ Most of the time _ anyway. Lance supposed the stress of the moment was pushing too many of Keith’s buttons. Not just the stress but possibly also the disappointment Keith held when they were told the war still wasn’t over.

A lot of them had thought that it would be done with once Zarkon was dead. Now that Lance looked back at it, he now knew all of that was just hopeful thinking. After all, the Galran Empire wasn’t simply going to scatter. They had a line of succession.

“Wait, why do we have to go then?” Came Hunk’s nervous inquiry “I mean, usually, with diplomacy meetings… We never really  _ have _ to attend.”

Allura directed her attention to Hunk though her hands were still up in Keith’s general direction. “Well, I was hoping that having you there would not only increase defence if the need arose but also…”

The Princess paused and Lance could already tell that what she was about to say was going to be worse than what she already had. Having them there as a security measure already went against her claim that nothing could go wrong. 

Why else would she need them there if she was so sure that everything would go great?

“I just thought maybe you would get along with them better than I could. Humans and Galrans have so much in common!” Allura finally finished, nervous smile playing across her face.

“Other than secondary genders and  _ maybe _ our pack mentality, we have nothing alike.” Pidge countered Allura’s claim just as quickly as the Princess had made it, arms crossed and an almost irritated look on her face.

Lance thought that Pidge’s reaction was a little harsh and frowned at her to show exactly that. She glanced at him, probably because she saw him give her a look from the corner of her eye. She deflated a little after that, back hunching a little bit more.

“Listen, Princess, just spill the beans.” Lance turned his attention from Pidge to Allura but, unlike everyone else, he kept his tone calm and passive. No matter what the Princess agreed to, they shouldn’t gang up on her.

Allura, however, looked confused and Lance immediately explained himself “I mean like… ‘Spill the beans’ is an Earth saying meaning—"

“Tell us all of the truth, already!” Pidge interrupted, patience wearing thin as she worried a dent into the floor with the toe of her shoe.

That time, Pidge not only garnered Hunk’s fretting glance but also Shiro’s. If she noticed, she didn’t let it on.

The Princess’ eyes lit up a little as if she finally understood but only for a second. Soon after, her sheepish expression returned and she sighed “Prince Lotor requested for the Paladins of Voltron to be in the meeting.”

“That’s suspicious!” Keith practically had an ‘ah-ha!’ moment, pointing an accusatory at the Princess.

Coran didn’t look like he appreciated the disrespect that was being aimed towards Allura but, before the older Altean could intervene, Shiro was pulling Keith back and forcing him to lower his arm.

Lance felt sorry for Allura and knew that she deserved more than the receiving end of their stress and anger. 

They were just in a life changing battle the day before and now Allura dropped the news on them about meeting Lotor. Though Lance didn’t like it, and neither did anyone else, she was simply doing what she needed to do for the team. Lance respected that.

Keith and Pidge did not. Shiro, on the other hand, looked like he sided with Allura.

“Okay, listen, team. I know this seems really suspicious—” Keith snorted but Shiro continued with what he was saying “—but if the Princess truly thinks this will help then we have to at least try.”

Shiro was the head of Voltron and the leader of their pack. Of course, when he said it like that, they had to go with Allura. Not because he’s the leader, though. Lance knew it was more than that. 

Shiro just had this way about him that made it feel right to listen to him. He was a natural-born leader, even if he’s revealed to Lance more than once that he didn’t feel as if that was true. 

It also helped that Shiro was soft at heart and knew exactly how to get all of them to drop their walls. Well, maybe not Lance’s but surely Pidge and Keith. Pidge was already looking guilty and Keith’s anger dissipated off of him.

“I suppose they would be stupid to try anything on our territory…” Pidge thought out loud before looking at Allura apologetically “I’m sorry I was… mean. I’m just feeling irritable.”

“It’s ‘cus you don’t get enough sleep, Pidgeon.” Lance chuckled, swooping down to ruffle Pidge’s hair which only resulted in the poor kid grumbling angrily.

Lance looked up fast enough to see the way Shiro nudged at Keith, probably to urge him to apologise for snapping like Pidge, and the hothead eventually complied.

“Sorry, Princess. I just want all of this to be over.” Keith grumbled out but his voice was easily understood. He seemed truly apologetic, too.

Allura looked relieved “I’m glad all of you understand. I also want the war to be over.”

“Hopefully, this is the decision that will lead to that.” She added almost like an afterthought and in a softer voice. Lance looked at her sympathetically.

“It would be nice if all of you trusted your Princess far more.” Coran muttered under his breath as he twisted his prized moustache.

“We do trust you Princess… We just don’t trust Lotor.” Keith replied all too quickly, that anger seeping back into his voice.

Lance understood why. No one on the team trusted any Galran outside of the Blade of Marmora. The Galran Empire had brought them too much heartache. Maybe not Lance and Hunk specifically. The two of them were there to pick everyone else back up, though, and, sometimes, that felt even worse.

Lance could never hate anything more than he hated seeing his pack broken and beaten.

As Lance thought this, he saw Keith tucking his head under Shiro’s chin. Lance watched as Keith took comfort in Shiro though the younger looked especially bashful when he did so. 

The action brings a pang to Lance’s chest but he simply looks away, simply wills that pain away. He wondered why he was so sympathetic towards his other pack mates but never towards himself.

It had been a while since Keith was declared as Shiro’s omega and, by default, the Pack Omega. Since the news, Lance felt himself distancing away from the two. Mostly because Lance had a huge crush on Shiro.

During their Garrison days, it was just a small crush. After all, who wouldn’t have a crush on the Galaxy Garrison’s poster boy, Takashi Shirogane? After meeting the Alpha, Lance felt himself crushing on him even more. 

The crush felt futile after a while. Shiro had shown that he saw Lance as nothing but a small brother, perhaps, or a nosy kid. Maybe even just another generic pack member. Shiro would never see Lance as anything more.

Sadly, Lance’s feelings didn’t know how to quit. When the crush on Shiro dissipated (or so Lance told himself), his heart moved on to Keith. That was even worse than liking Shiro. Not even simply because Keith could never find him as anything more than an annoyance. 

Keith would never be attracted to Lance because Keith, like Lance, was an omega. Relationships where both people were omegas were rare and almost unheard of. 

Yet, instead of letting himself naturally get over these feelings, Lance simply forced them away. He knew he should let the heartbreak heal but he also knew that war was no place for heartbreak. He had to get over it now.

“Hey, Hunkie-dory, my man, we should go stress cook.” Lance tried to distract himself from his thoughts, grabbing Hunk’s hand and also Pidge’s “Pidgeon over here hasn’t eaten since yesterday.”

Pidge looked like she was about to protest but Lance gave her a look and she gave up, pouting “I guess I am feeling a bit peckish.”

“Please don’t stay up too late, you three. We will be having our meeting with the Prince tomorrow morning.” Coran called after them as they started heading to the kitchen.

“Will do, boss.” Lance looked over his shoulder, making an effort to only look at Coran and _not_ the lovey-dovey couple to Coran’s right.

Lance was hopeless but at least he had stress baking and worrying about the peace talks to distract him.


	2. lance — kitchen talk.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Garrison Trio have a little talk in the kitchen about Lance's problems. Though nothing gets solved, Lance feels a little lighter afterwards.

Pidge was leaning forward on the counter, eyes pretending to be busy watching Hunk work “So, how’s your pining?”

Lance almost choked on his own spit and Hunk hurried over, patting Lance’s back almost harshly. After his little coughing fit, Lance sent a glare Pidge’s direction.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Lance’s tone is adamant and he continued cutting out circles with the weird cookie cutter Hunk had made from scrap metal.

Pidge scoffed at that “We all know about your  _ widdle wovey dovey cwuush  _ on Shiro.”

Lance felt his face flush from neck to ear and he ducked his head, huffing “Only because I told you.”

“Well, Lance…” Hunk spoke up as he removed a baking tray from the makeshift oven (it was called something else in Altean) and placed it on the counter “It was kinda’ obvious since we were in the Garrison.”

Lance groaned at Hunk’s confession, angrily stamping out the rest of the cookies from the dough he was given “It’s not  _ my _ fault he’s such a… ugh.”

“Ugh?” Pidge chortled at that, apparently entertained by Lance’s pain and misery.

In truth, Lance knew he could rely on Pidge and Hunk. Though they teased him often, they would never be the ones to reveal his feelings to anyone. Pidge threatened Lance all she wanted but there was no denying that she would carry his secrets to her grave. 

“Listen, it’s over.” Lance tried to sound serious, expression as emotionless as he could muster.

Lance wouldn’t deny the ache in his chest and the twist of his stomach at the thought of simply abandoning his little crushes. Lance grew fond of the feelings both Shiro and Keith gave him. The happier feelings, anyway. 

However, this was a war they were in and, though love was sometimes a strength, it was also a weakness.

Pidge’s eyes softened then “Look, I’m not exactly experienced in when it comes to  _ romance _ but, Lance, I don’t think you get to decide when it’s ‘over’.”

Hunk nodded, placing a hand on Lance’s shoulder “You need to give it time, buddy.”

Though Lance agreed with the both of them, he couldn’t help but think that he had no time to get over his insignificant little feelings. Taking his time was not an option.

“I guess you’re right.” Lance relented, deciding for now to hide how he truly felt. He would figure this out on his own or just continue ignoring what he felt. Either way, it was no Keith or Shiro for Lance.

“Of course.” Pidge seemed satisfied by Lance’s answer before turning to Hunk “Please hand me some space cookies and a cup of space coffee!”

“Why do you guys always add space to everything?” Hunk rolled his eyes, seemingly amused. The big guy still plated a couple of the cookies, though, and happily handed the plate to Pidge.

Lance looked at Hunk like the answer to his question was the most obvious answer of all “Duh, because we’re in space.”

Hunk laughed at that while Pidge scarfed down a cookie, smiling at both Hunk and Lance. Though his problem wasn’t resolved, being there with his two friends made Lance feel a little lighter. If only life was always like that.


	3. lance — the handsome prince and his beautiful escorts.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Team finally meets Lotor and the Prince seems to have taken a little bit of a liking towards Lance. It also seems that the Prince's escorts also take a liking to Lance. The Blue Paladin himself can't believe how beautiful both the Prince and his Generals are.

Lotor and his generals arrived on a Galran ship, of course, but it was no battle ship. Lance estimated that it would fit, at most seven or eight people. It did, however, have that same colour scheme as all Galran ships did.

Lance wondered how self-centred Galrans had to be to make everything purple. Their skins were purple enough as it was. 

Quickly, the sharpshooter pushed those thoughts away, opting to focus more on the landing ship in front of them.

Allura had told the pack that both her and Lotor agreed to an uninhabited planet. They would land first and then Lotor would land right afterwards. Then, they would commence the peace talks. Allura told them she didn’t know how long the talks would last. It would have to last long enough for the two parties to come to a consensus, at least.

Lance almost scoffed at the thought of a consensus. Most Galrans were ugly and mean, they were never going to arrive at a consensus. Unless that consensus was mutual destruction.

Just as Lance thought that, the entrance to the ship in front of them hissed open. Lance could hear Keith tighten his grip on the red bayard as if ready for an attack.

What exited out of the ship, however, was something Lance had not anticipated.

A low whistle escaped his lips before he could stop himself “Well then.”

Lance’s more flirtatious less serious side was usually a ruse or a distraction, something to ease everyone else. Most of his pack found this side of him entertaining (when they weren’t on the receiving end) so he tended to pretend to be this way when the atmosphere was thick.

Watching Lotor and his generals exit that ship, Lance could say, without a doubt, he was not pretending at the moment.

“Hello, Princess.” Lotor finally reached his welcoming party with Allura at the forefront. Lotor’s voice was not grating like most Galrans’ were. In fact, Lance mused, Lotor’s voice was velvety and deep. 

It surely sent a shiver down Lance’s spine.

“I see these are your paladins.” Lotor turns his attention away from Allura to the rainbow squad behind her “I didn’t know humans were such a beautiful race.”

As Lotor said that, his eyes landed right on Lance. Their eyes met, fleetingly, and Lance could swear his entire face burned. 

Quickly, Lance looked away, opting to pretend that his attention was elsewhere. What an interesting bush! The grass on this planet looked much bluer than the grass on Earth! Was that a bird in the sky?

Lotor chuckled and the sound was much like his voice: smooth and sinful.

“These are my generals.”

Lance’s attention piqued then and his gaze went back to Lotor as the Prince introduced his generals one by one.

All of them were beautiful, each in their own ways. Lance couldn’t help but be especially enamoured by Acxa though why he couldn’t exactly tell.

“Thank you for agreeing to meet with us.” Allura finally spoke up before gesturing to the paladins behind her. Like Lotor, she also introduced them, starting with Shiro and ending with Lance.

“I can’t say I regret coming. Especially after seeing such a beautiful sight.” Lotor crossed his arms “Your blue eyes are quite fitting.”

Allura looked offended for one second, as if she had thought he was referring to her, before following Lotor’s gaze to Lance who was sweating and looking quite nervous.

“Thank you, Prince.” Lance managed to redeem himself and he even managed a small bow “That’s a huge compliment comin’ from you.”

Lotor’s expression at the moment was thoroughly amused and Lance thought he would say something else but, thankfully, Allura interjected “Come, let’s get into the castle.”

Lance was relieved to be out of Lotor’s sights—Allura dragged him up to the front of the group while Lance hung back—and he couldn’t believe the Prince had the confidence to say something like that.

_ It was a nice compliment _ , Lance couldn’t help but think. His eyes had never been complimented before so bluntly like that. He had to agree with the Prince. Blue eyes were fitting for the blue paladin.

As Lance walked, he realised that, though he was at the back in terms of his pack, he was actually walking in front of Lotor’s generals.

He slowed down a little and, with his luck, managed to start walking right next to Acxa, that beautiful general he had been inexplicably attracted to.

“Hey there.” Lance tried to sound suave, even going so far as to smile at the general.

He didn't want to flirt with her as much as simply just get to know her. After all, the Paladins could easily be considered as Allura’s generals. If both parties’ generals got along, the peace talk could go smoother.

It didn't seem that Acxa shared the sentiment though. She was stiff beside Lance, almost like she was acting very hard to look like a good soldier.

She even went as far as throwing him an irritated look “I’m an alpha.”

Lance looked confused and she faltered at the surprised expression on his face. 

Lance knew for a fact that Galrans didn’t introduce themselves by saying what their secondary genders were. He knew that well enough after becoming quite close friends with a few Marmorans. 

Perhaps it was something the Marmorans didn't partake in but that the rest of the Galran empire did? 

“I’m an omega.” Lance offered, still a little confused, however he did pause before continuing “If you’re irritated by me—”

Lance couldn’t complete his sentence because Acxa suddenly swooped down and practically pressed her face against Lance’s neck. Lance grew stock stiff and let out a small noise of surprise, one Keith and Pidge seemed to notice.

Both Keith and Pidge hurried over, Keith with his bayard in hand and Pidge looking angry.

“Is she bothering you?” Keith sounded irritated and, though the question was directed at Lance, Keith kept his glare at Acxa.

Their little welcome group officially stopped and all eyes were now on the four of them.

Acxa didn’t look apologetic when she straightened herself but she did nod her head towards Lance, looking just a little bit embarrassed “I apologise. I thought you had been lying about being an omega.”

Pidge looked at her incredulously “You don’t just sniff people!”

“It-It’s okay, guys.” Lance tried to calm everyone down but with little success. His eyes darted to Shiro as if begging for help.

Shiro looked like he was about to step forward but he was beaten by Lotor who was at Acxa’s side much more quickly than Lance thought possible.

“I’m so sorry for my general, Blue Paladin.” Lotor’s confidence from earlier was still there but the Prince also looked sheepish “Acxa can be quite straightforward.”

Lance shakes his head “It's okay, I get mistaken as an alpha a lot.”

“She sniffed you!” Pidge sounded offended, looking towards Lance almost incredulously.

Acxa bowed her head again “I apologise for that.”

“I have met a lot of alphas who assume we are omegas and pose as omegas to get closer to us.” She explained calmly though her embarrassment seemed to grow. 

“Hey, it's alright. I get that a lot too.” Lance nods and, though the air is still thick, it seems that everyone calmed down a little. 

Lotor nodded to Lance “I apologise again--”

“There's no need to apologise, I swear.” Lance chuckles this time, slightly entertained that both these gigantic Galrans kept apologising to him.

When assured that everything was fine, the Welcoming Committee seemed to continue as everyone settled back to where they were before. 

With a small nod to Acxa, Lotor returned to the front. Both Shiro and Allura seemed concerned for Lance but followed right after. Pidge, Keith and Hunk seemed more reluctant but did so as well. Lance noted that Keith seemed closer than before and he couldn't help but feel a little happy for the omega’s concern.

Ezor--Lance guessed--strode up to Acxa, wrapping an arm around her shoulder “So, already sniffing the prettiest one in the room, huh?”

Lance stiffened at that again but tried not to mind it that much. His face still flushed, however. 

“Don't say that.” Acxa practically barked but softly so as to not attract too much attention.

Someone in the back--Zethrid?--laughed in response. 

Always being the flirt he was and not wanting to let the opportunity pass, Lance calms his fast beating heart and manages a small smile towards Acxa “You didn't have to sniff me, you could've just said you thought I was pretty.”

It was a joke, really. A platonic flirt if Lance had a say in it. That was just how he made friends! He flirted with them! That was all it was.

Yet, as Lance looked up at Acxa, he couldn't help but watch in awe as her face flushed. She looked cute as she directed her gaze away, looking much more embarrassed than she had looked a few minutes ago.

Ezor giggled at that and moved from Acxa to Lance, wrapping her arm around him “I like you.”

“I hope you're not uncomfortable, being surrounded by female alphas and all.” Ezor added, obviously not wanting to cause Lance any discomfort.

Zethrid and the other general with the creature, Narti, moved up to be closer to them. Zethrid looked cautious and the creature on Narti’s shoulder let out a soft sound.

The omega glanced at them before shaking his head, offering yet another smile “I don't mind at all.”

“Especially not when they're beautiful like you guys.” Lance added though, for some weird reason, he found himself glancing at Acxa from the corners of his eyes as if wanting to see her reaction.

Ezor laughed at that “I really like you.”


	4. keith — jealousy mistaken for concern.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith notices the fact that Lance and the Galrans get along well and does not like it at all. Shiro simply tries to placate his hotheaded mate.

After the tour around the castle and then the meeting, Lance and the rest of the generals seemed to have disappeared.

It put Keith on edge though, he supposed, that was simply because he was the pack omega. He could not take care of the pack if he didn't know where all of them were.

Then again, he couldn't take care of the pack much, period. He wasn't used to ‘taking care of the pack’ since he never really had a pack before.

This was his first one and he was already fucking up.

“Keith.” 

The omega's head snapped up at Shiro’s voice and his body melted at Shiro’s touch to his shoulder. 

They both sat in the common room of the castle. In fact, all of the paladins were there. Pidge was tinkering away at something in the corner, Hunk sat next to her reading something off of a tablet, Keith and Shiro sat on one of the weird couch things. 

All of them were present except their loudest one. This made the common room much quieter than Keith was used to. 

Therein lied the problem. 

“Calm down.” Shiro pulled Keith closer and Keith could feel the comforting rumble in Shiro’s voice now that they pressed against each other.

Shiro let his hand drop lower, rubbing small circles against Keith’s forearm, trying his best to placate his hotheaded mate “Lance is fine.”

Keith is surprised Shiro knew he was worrying about Lance in the first place but chalks it off to the fact that Shiro knew Keith well. In fact, Shiro knew Keith better than Keith knew himself.

“He's too chummy with those generals.” Keith couldn't think of much else to say so he opted to say that much. He worried Lance would get too attached to them or, perhaps, find himself in trouble like with the Nyma Incident.

Keith even recalls how Lance had chosen to sit in between Ezor and Acxa. Which, of course, resulted in Lance sitting much too close to Lotor. At least, it was much too close for Keith's comfort.

That was very much a Lance thing to do, however. He had always been outgoing and bright, a people's kind of person. He befriended everyone and anyone. It got him in more trouble than what Keith would've liked.

“I’m sure he's fine.” Shiro shifted Keith again so that Keith's head rested against Shiro's shoulder “He can handle himself, right?”

Keith grumbled at that, not wanting to admit that he did think Lance capable of many things. Lance was talented in that he seemed to be good at everything. That didn't mean Galran generals couldn't mess with his head.

“He called them beautiful…” Keith crossed his arms, pliant but still complaining. 

Shiro chuckled this time “You don't sound worried. You sound jealous.”

Keith immediately sat up, a rather offended expression on his face “I am not!”

He could hear both Pidge and Hunk’s snickers from the corner of the room. The sudden urge to walk over there and yell at them rose in Keith.

Shiro, however, had none of it and pressed Keith back down “Then why worry about what Lance thinks of Lotor's generals?”

Keith seemed to hesitate for a second before just sighing “Lance thought Nyma was beautiful and look where that led him.”

“That's true.” Shiro conceded, earning a small noise of approval from Keith. 

“Still…” Shiro added “Lance can handle himself, especially since he's in the castle and we're right here.”

Keith just hoped Shiro was right.


	5. lance — getting a few bruises.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance seems to be in trouble with the generals. Lotor seems to be irritated by the peace meetings.

Lance fell with a loud clatter, the breath in his lungs leaving him as his bayard flew from his hand. The world before him spun a little and he coughed, trying to orient himself.

Above him, Ezor smirked victoriously, yellow eyes gleaming.

Without thinking it through, Lance’s leg swung, knocking Ezor down to the floor like Lance had just been. 

She dropped with a loud harrumph and, most likely, her fall had made her just a little bit dizzy. At least, that was what Lance guessed because the thump of her body against the metal of the floor sounded too loud to not have been.

It didn’t matter anyway. Quickly, the Blue Paladin scrambled to his bayard, body burning in exhaustion and sweat dripping down his face.

He needed to get to his bayard if he wanted a chance against a Galran General.

Before he could grab the gun, however, someone stepped in between it and him. Their feet looked all too familiar.

Lance looked up, a groan threatening to leave his lips at the sight of Ezor, the general he had just knocked over. She didn’t look like someone who had just been taken off of her feet.

“You look pretty on your hands and knees.” She practically cooed and Lance narrowed his eyes in response. 

The thought ‘ _ God quznacking damn it. _ ’ passed through his mind. 

Without missing a beat, Lance quickly reached between Ezor’s legs, most likely surprising her, and he pointed the bayard at her without hesitation. The tip of it was aimed directly at her chest and Lance’s finger hovered dangerously over the trigger. He could easily take her out right then and there.

However, the fact that she looked unperturbed bothered Lance all too much.

“You left your backside open.” A voice suddenly whispered in his ear and Lance swivelled quickly, heart jumping into his throat.

He would recognise that velvety sinful voice anywhere.

Lotor stood there, bent over so that his eyes were almost level to Lance’s. His hair cascaded down, framing his face handsomely. He was unfairly good looking.

“You can't double team me!” Lance yelled before yelping when Ezor crouched down to place a hand on his shoulder

“I don't know, I'm pretty sure you'd enjoy that.” Ezor practically purred, causing Lance’s face to completely flush.

Lotor chuckled at that, straightening up. 

Lance relaxed, letting out a breath he didn't know he was holding in. “Where did you even come from?” 

Ezor laughed at that and then she, too, straightened and stretched. Lance got up last, cracking his neck and letting the gun in his hand transform back into a bayard. 

What surprised him yet again was the sudden onslaught of clapping.

Zethrid, Acxa and Narti seemed happy about the results of the fight. Zethrid even grinned widely and Acxa looked fairly impressed. Narti didn’t seem to have an expression on her face but, then again, that came with having literally no eyes. She was clapping though.

Lance quickly assumed they were clapping for Ezor but, as he walked over and holstered his bayard, that didn't seem to be the case.

“You did good, Blue Paladin.” Acxa told him, a small smile tugging at the corners of her lips.  

Zethrid seemed to nod as well, looking much more enthusiastic and excited “You did much better against Ezor than I had expected!”

Part of Lance wanted to ask if it was because he was an omega. The Galrans simply expected him to be soft and easily bruised. It was fine if that was the case, though. It wouldn’t be the first time anyone judged him for his secondary gender. He didn’t want to somber up the situation, however, so he simply chuckled nervously.

“You guys think so? For real?” He rubbed the back of his neck, his nervousness mixing with a little bit of sheepishness.

Yes, he was cautious around the Galran Generals and their Prince. They were enemies after all, no matter how friendly they seemed. Lance hoped that would change because of the peace talks, he was already rather fond of them, but he couldn’t get his hopes up. That didn’t stop him from enjoying their compliments. 

Zethrid nodded again, seemingly excited which was apparent from the way she clenched her fists “Yes, you have lasted longer than most.”

“Zethrid informed me that she thought you would be beaten in a second.” Lotor joined the banter, small smirk on his devilish face “She said she expected humans to be weak.”

“Oh.” At that revelation, Lance relaxed a bit, a little relieved they weren’t underestimating him for something he had been discriminated for too many times “Well, I mean… Sometimes it is scary to be human and to go against Galrans but we can hold our own.”

When he said that, of course, Lance was referring to the fact that Galrans were gigantic. They usually towered over him and that was certainly something because Lance was one of the taller Paladins.

“If you really want a challenge, fight me, Blue Paladin.” Zethrid finally stepped forward, fists still clenched excitedly and the devious grin that spread across her face was almost cute. Almost because she was making that expression at the thought of beating Lance up.

He didn’t want to say no, though. He didn’t want to seem weak or to seem as if he was being rude. He couldn’t say yes either. His body ached and, even though he apparently made the fight look effortless, he put a lot of his strength and energy into keeping Ezor back.

Lotor glanced over at Lance before shaking his head at Zethrid “Maybe another time, Zethrid. The Blue Paladin shouldn’t have to fight every single one of you in one day, should he?”

Zethrid didn’t seem deterred by that “As long as I get to test your strength for myself one day, Blue Paladin, I don’t mind waiting.”

Lotor chuckled at that and the sound is deep and rich. It, surprisingly enough, made Lance’s heart jump. Lotor seemed very good at that. That, of course, being making Lance’s heart flutter and flustering him.

It reminded Lance of someone else he already knew. Perhaps a certain black armoured alpha.

“Thank you, Lotor. And, yeah, sure, we’ll have our fight eventually, Zethrid.” Lance felt relieved once again and he found himself feeling more and more relaxed around the Galrans “Also, please, guys, you can call me Lance.” 

Acxa looked perplexed “You would have us drop formalities?”

“Heck yeah. I mean, you’re here to have peace talks with Allura, not me.” Lance nodded, looking all too casual about something that apparently every single one of the Galran Generals were mildly surprised about.

Ignoring their looks, Lance glanced at Lotor “You done with the peace talks?”

At that, Lotor responded with a small frown “Not quite but the Royal Advisor had wanted to take a break for the Princess’ sake and I am not rude enough to say no.”

Lance nodded at that, completely understanding. It probably wasn’t too easy being the representative of a new age for an old empire. Now that Zarkon was gone, Lotor was in charge of bringing about the next phase in this dynasty of theirs. It must have been a lot of pressure. 

Lance’s first instinct was to try and relieve this sort of stress that was causing the Prince early wrinkes. It was an odd inclination but it seemed like a good idea. After all, stressed out diplomats were most likely not something Allura, who was most likely equally stressed out, wanted to deal with. 

That was just a recipe for arguments and disaster.

There wasn’t a lot in the ship to help someone relax, though. The castle was built for royalty, yes, but most of the castle that Lance knew had nothing in it that screamed stress relief. The parts of the palace that Allura had shown them were the bedrooms, the living rooms, the kitchen and the various training decks.

Then, the idea came to him. “Hey, you guys hungry?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you so much for reading!!! leave a kudos and a comment if you liked it!!! i know it's rough in the voltron fandom right now but honestly i really want to continue writing for this fandom so, hopefully, the update will come soon
> 
> if you wanna get some updates, my tumblr is mini-ghost-writer and my twitter is minikkukkungi. there's not much on either of them but like... if you wanna follow anyway lmao. on my twitter, there's a poll up on which story you guys want updated asap? so if you wanna vote on that, hmu! i only have my top three most popular stories on there but you can dm me or retweet it with a vote if the story you wanna vote on isn't an option


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